Educational Science

Invasive Crayfish Smuggled Alien Species Overseas

When the red swamp crayfish invaded Europe more than 30 years ago, it may have smuggled another species overseas. Scientists say they've found an alien type of tiny crustacean in Spain, and evidence suggests it came from North America on the back of the crayfish. A team of researchers collected...

Ice-Loving Crustaceans Ride Arctic Conveyer Belt

Flea-like crustaceans that rely on Arctic ice may be using deep ocean currents as a sort of conveyer belt to bring them back to the pack after their ice has drifted out to sea, new research suggests. If it is indeed how the tiny crustaceans keep from going too far...

The giant crabs are coming. And they're hungry. Researchers at the University of North Carolina's (UNC) Aquarium Research Center have found that higher atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide — a greenhouse gas that's linked to global warming — are also causing crabs to grow to bigger, faster and stronger, according...

Caribbean Crustacean Named for Bob Marley

The late Jamaican musician Bob Marley has joined the I have a species named after me club, as a parasitic crustacean has been donned Gnathia marleyi, researchers announced today (July 10). This blood feeder infests certain fish that live among the coral reefs of the shallow eastern Caribbean Sea. I...

Tiny, Transparent Lobsters Stick Close to Home

These teeny-tiny infant lobsters may be small, but their commercial value is anything but. Spiny-lobster (Panulirus argus) hauls in the Caribbean bring in $1 billion a year, which is why researchers are taking a closer look at these lobster babies. A new computer simulation, published June 7 in the journal...

Crabs Really Do Feel Pain: Study

Scientists have long held that crabs are unable to feel pain because they lack the biology to do so, but behavioral evidence has recently shown otherwise. Now, new research further supports the hypothesis that crabs feel pain by showing that crabs given a mild shock will take steps to avoid...

World's Largest Land Crabs Tracked With GPS

GPS technology has revolutionized the study of vertebrates like whales, birds and monkeys, allowing scientists to learn more about the animals' behaviors and sometimes-lengthy migrations. But nobody has used the technology to study arthropods, the world's most abundant animals, until now. A study published this week in the journal PLoS...